Burial vault



y 1966 c. w. KLOSNER 3,253,312

BURIAL VAULT Filed Dec. 16, 1965 WWFNTO)? J Cami/1020mm? flTTOR/VEY United States Patent Office P I 3,253,312 atented May 31, 1966 3,253,312 BURIAL VAULT Clyde W. Klosner, 405 Dalewood Ave, Cloquet, Minn. Filed Dec. 16, 1963, Ser. No. 330,738 3 Claims. (CI. 27-35) This invention relates to burial vaults and particularly to burial vaults which are light in weight, have high structural strength and rigidity, and are easily stored and assembled.

Burial vaults have traditionally been constructed of heavy metal, masonry or concrete. In general, metal vaults have not achieved widespread acceptance because of their relatively high cost and weight. Although concrete or masonry vaults have been available for many years, they have been heavy, difficult to handle and in ventory, and relatively frangible. With the development of new and lightweight materials of construction, particularly in the area of plastics, attempts have been made to construct burial vaults with the inherent advantages of such materials. However, since the structural rigidity requirements of a burial vault must be sufficient to withstand not only the weight of earth above the vault but also the stresses encountered as the earth below the unit settles, even with the use of plastic materials adequate reinforcement or use of heavy bases or supports has been required in vaults such asthat described in United States Letters Patent No. 2,806,278. Fiberglass vaults have been described with fiat bases or platforms over which a cover is fitted, as shown in United States Letters Patent Nos. 2,848,780 and 2,940,156. These vaults place the watertight seal at the base of the unit, making it normally necessary either to position and seal the major portion of the vault after the base and casket have been lowered into the grave or to seal the vault before lowering bot-h vault and casket. For convenience of handling, particularly when the casket is lowered after a graveside ceremony, it is desirable to position the major portion of the vault in the grave and seal the vault after the casket is subsequently lowered. For this purpose a structurally sound plastic burial vault having a five sided box member and a lid or cover, constructed with a minimum of plastic to reduce both weight and cost, has been needed.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a structurally sound, plastic burial vault with a minimum weight and a minimum of plastic.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a strong, lightweight burial vault with a box member and a lid or cover.

A further object of this invention is to provide a lightweight, economical burial vault of unique structure which can be hermetically sealed.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description having reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing the burial vault of my invention with the cover removed.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical elevation partly in cross-section on the line-2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical elevation partly in cross-section on the line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of the sealing means between the lid member and the box member.

As shown in FIGURE 1 the burial vault of this invention comprises two wholly plastic elements, namely a unitary box member v1 and a cover or lid member 2. Referring to FIGURES 2 and 3 the box member is formed with two vertical sides 3, two vertical ends 4, and a bottorn 5 from a plastic material, preferably fiberglass reinforced with a plastic such as polyester, both sides and ends, as well as the bottom, being generally of rectangular shape. Each of the sides and ends has at least one offset portion 6, preferably recessed, of isosceles trapezoidal configuration, of which the major parallel side 7 is coincident with the bottom 5 and the minor parallel side 8 is slightly below the uppermost extremity 9 of the sides and ends. These ofliset portions are recessed about one half inch. The major parallel side 7 is preferably about three times the length of the minor parallel side 8, and the nonpa-rallel sides preferably form an angle of about 60 degrees with the major parallel side 7. The bottom has at least two protuberant ribs 10 of isosceles trapezoidal cross-section extending completely across the bottom in one dimension and at least two recessed ribs 11 of isosceles trapezoidal cross-section extending completely across the bottom in the other direction, the major parallel side of each of said isosceles trapezoidal cross-sections being coincident with the bottom 5. The bottom recessed ribs 11 are preferably integral with and formed from the bottom 5, forming a recessed trough. The bottom protuberant ribs 10 are formed with the bottom 5 providing the major parallel side of the isosceles trapezoidal crosssection. At their uppermost extremity 9 both sides and ends are bent outwardly and downwardly to form tongue 12, and the lower extremity of the outward and downward projection of leg 13 is attached to the vertical wall by a brace 14' to add additional structural rigidity to the top of the box member.

Cover or lid member 15 has a dome shape, arching in transverse cross-section and extending outwardly and downwardly, terminating in a forked sealing member 16. Forked sealing member 16 forms a groove 17 into which the tongue 12 of the box member fits, the tongue 12 being somewhat smaller than the groove 17 to permit the use of a suitable sealant, preferably a butyl rubber caulk, which can be readily extruded into the groove 15 before assembly to provide a hermetical seal for the assembled unit. Ribs 18 of isosceles trapezoidal cross-section, which may be either protuberant (as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3) or recessed are preferred for maximum cover rigidity and minimum weight.

It has been found that the above described configurationprovides exceptional rigidity to the plastic unit while permitting a reduction in the quantity of plastic required, thereby reducing both the cost and the weight of the burial vault assembly. The rigid bottom of the box member is employed to lend rigidity to the sides and ends by means of the isosceles trapezoidal offsets which have their major parallel sides coincident with, and are thus stabilized by, the bottom. The isosceles trapezoid, unlike an parollelopiped, is particularly resistant to planar distortion. Moreover, the minor parallel sides of'the isosceles trapezoids, running parallel to and somewhat below the uppermost edges of the side and end portions, form lateral L-shaped supports 19 spaced regularly about the uppermost edges which, together with the braced tongue, impart increased structural rigidity to the top of the box member. In similar fashion, the bottom itself is reinforced by the recessed trough-shaped ribs and protuberant ribs, all of which are of isosceles trapezoidal cross-section, the major parallel side of the jisosceles trapezoids being coincident with the bottom. Thus, the overall rigidity of the one-piece, plastic box member is made dependent on the bottom thereof, which is most resistant to distortion.

Since the techniques of working with fiberglass reinforced plastic are well known in the art, the steps of fabricating the burial vault of this invention need not be set forth herein. In actual use the box member may be first lowered into the grave. After the casket is lowered into the box member the vault cover may be positioned on the box member and the grave closed, the weight of the earth tightly sealing the tongue and groove.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not so limited and that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or teaching thereof.

I claim:

1. A fiberglass reinforced plastic burial vault having a box member and a cover member fitted thereon, said box member having four vertical sides and a bottom, each of said sides having at least one isosceles trapezoidal olfset portion as an integral part thereof, said bottom having at least two recessed trough-shaped ribs of isosceles trapezoidal cross-section extending completely across said bottom in one dimension and at least two protuberant ribs of isosceles trapezoidal cross-section extending completely across said bottom in the other dimension, the major parallel side of each of said isosceles trapezoidal offset portions and ribs being coincident with said bottom.

2. A fiberglass reinforced plastic burial vault having a box member and a cover member fitted thereon, said box member having four vertical sides and a bottom, each of said sides having at least one isosceles trapezoidal offset portion as an integral part thereof, said bottom having at least two recessed trough-shaped ribs of isosceles trapezoidal cross-section extending completely across said bottom in one dimension and at least two protuberant ribs of isosceles trapezoidal cross-section extending completely across said bottom in the other dimension, the major parallel side of each of said isosceles trapezoidal offset portions and ribs being coincident with said bottom, and the minor parallel side of said isosceles trapezoidal offset portions being slightly below the uppermost extremity of said vertical sides.

trapezoidal cross-section integral with said bottom and extending completely across said bottom in one dimension and at least two protuberant ribs of isosceles trapezoidal cross-section extending completely across said bottom in the other dimension, the major parallel side of each of said isosceles trapezoidal offset portions and ribs being coincident with said bottom and the minor parallel side of said isosceles trapezoidal oifset portions being slightly below the uppermost extremity of said vertical sides, said uppermost extremity of each of said vertical sides forming a tongue, said cover member being dome shaped and having at the lower edges thereof a groove fitted about said tongue and form a seal therewith.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,766,649 6/1930 King 2735 1,961,988 6/1934 Scott 27-35 X 2,811,768 11/ 1957 Axelson 27--7 2,940,156 6/1960 Cook 27-35 FOREIGN PATENTS 859,941 1/ 1961 Great Britain.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

W. E. KAMM, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A FIBERGLASS REINFORCED PLASTIC BURIAL VAULT HAVING A BOX MEMBER AND A COVER MEMBER FITTED THEREON, SAID BOX MEMBER HAVING FOUR VERTICAL SIDES AND A BOTTOM, EACH OF SAID SIDES HAVING AT LEAST ONE ISOSCELES TAPEZOIDAL OFFSET PORTION AS AN INTEGRAL PART THEREOF, SAID BOTTOM HAVING AT LEAST TWO RECESSED TROUGH-SHAPED RIBS OF ISOSCELES TRAPEZOIDAL CROSS-SECTION EXTENDING COMPLETELY ACROSS SAID BOTTOM IN ONE DIMENSION AND AT LEAST TWO PROTUBERANT RIBS OF ISOSCELES TRAPEZOIDAL CROSS-SECTION EXTENDING COMPLETELY ACROSS SAID BOTTOM IN THE OTHER DIMENSION, THE MAJOR PARALLEL SIDE OF EACH OF SAID ISOSCELES TRAPEZOIDAL OFFSET PORTIONS AND RIBS BEING COINCIDENT WITH SAID BOTTOM. 